Let GOD Be GOD!

John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Now it is obvious to all except those totally biased that one who comes to Jesus Christ must be given to him by the Father. Further it is obvious that those who are given to Jesus Christ will be saved. Now what constraints are placed on GOD when HE gives someone to Jesus Christ. Is GOD Sovereign or is HE NOT. If HE is Sovereign then HE needs no ones approval as to who will be given to the Savior. If HE is not Sovereign then he is not God and we are all wasting our time on this Forum!

John 10:22-29
22. And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24. Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
29. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Now look at the above passage. The Jews asked Jesus Christ if HE were really the Messiah. His response in verse 25: I told you, and ye believed not:. Why didn't they believe? Because they were not given to HIM; they were not HIS sheep.

In Verses 27-29 Jesus Christ tells about HIS sheep: They follow HIM! Why do they follow HIM? Because they are HIS sheep, they were given to HIM by the Father.

Now consider John 12:37-41

37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
38. That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
39. Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
40. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
41. These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.

Now why did they not believe on Jesus Christ. Scripture states they could not believe so that the prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled [Verses 38, 39]. Skandelon would have us believe that it was because GOD would not allow them to believe and Verse 40 indicates that GOD had blinded their eyes and hardened their heart.

But is that the entire story? Not at all!

The prophecy in Isaiah reads:

Isaiah 6: 9, 10
9. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus Christ states:

Matthew 13:14, 15
14. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15. For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Note that in Verse 15 Jesus Christ states: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

This peoples heart is waxed gross?

The Apostle Paul makes the same observation in Acts 28:25-27:

25. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26. Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

At this point it is worth noting what the Apostle Peter has to say about the unbelieving Jews:

Acts 2:22-24
22. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23. Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Jesus Christ states: This peoples heart is waxed gross?

The Apostle Peter states: Acts 2:22-24
ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

So the question is: Did the Jews reject Jesus Christ and crucify HIM because they were hardened or because their hearts were waxed gross and they were wicked people.

John Gill perhaps says it as well as can be said.

John 12:40. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, &c.] It is of no great moment, whether the he, who is said to blind and harden, be God or Christ, or whether the words be rendered, "it hath blinded", &c. that is, malice or wickedness; or whether they be read impersonally, "their eyes are blinded", &c. since God or Christ blind and harden not by any positive act, but by leaving and giving men up to the blindness and hardness of their hearts, and denying them the grace which could only cure them, and which they are not obliged to give; and which was the case of these Jews, so as never to be converted, or be turned even by external repentance and reformation, that they might be healed in a national way, and be preserved from national ruin, as it follows,

I believe that if one read of the Pharaoh who was forced to set Israel free they will see Scripture state 1.} that Pharaoh hardened his own heart and 2.} that his heart was hardened by GOD. The fact is that the Pharaoh was a wicked man, just like the Jews who crucified our Savior!

 

Ephesians 1:3-7
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Below read Scandelon's total erroneous interpretation of the above passage.

Notice that in this passage from Ephesians that GOD alone is presented as taking any action. Those who are called "blessed", that means the Saints, are totally passive. Now what does GOD do for those that the Apostle calls blessed:

1. HE chose us before the foundation of the world! Elsewhere we read that HE gave us to Jesus Christ. [John 6:39] Now if HE chose us HE knew us, and HE knew us personally!

2. HE predestinated [According to Thayer that means: decide beforehand or decree from eternity.] unto adoption of sons by Jesus Christ, to whom HE had given us! That means that GOD decreed before the foundation of the world that those HE had chosen would be HIS children. We don't hear "child of GOD" used much any more but that is what HIS chosen ones are!

Also notice that it says nothing "about predestined to believe" as Scandelon claims. It states that HE predestinated unto adoption of sons by Jesus Christ. Eisegesis won't cut it!

3. HE, GOD alone, made HIS chosen ones accepted in the beloved! I love that expression. The BELOVED is the incarnate GOD, Jesus Christ and GOD made us accepted in HIM. We did not, not one of us could, that is the work of GOD alone as this passage clearly states! That is unless one wants to close his mind!

4. According to the riches of the GRACE of GOD we have the forgiveness of sins [Remember Matthew 1:21] and redemption through HIS blood.

5. All this GOD did according to the good pleasure of his will.

 

Ephesians 2:1-8 NASB
1. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5. even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6. and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,
7. in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Below is Skandelon's erroneous interpretation of this passage of Scripture.

Consider now the salient fact presented in the above passage. Man, without Jesus Christ, is dead. The man is obviously not physically dead otherwise the passage would be meaningless. The Scripture states [Verses 1-3] that man is dead in trespasses and sins.

In 1 Corinthians 2:14 the Apostle Paul tells us about this man:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This man who is dead in trespass and sin [Verses 1-3] is the natural man, a man who can do absolutely nothing to improve his spiritual condition, a man who is spiritually dead. It takes a supernatural act of GOD to give life, spiritual life to this man. Now consider verses 4 & 5 in the above passage. As in the passage from Ephesians 1 we see that it is GOD alone who is active in the events that transpire. It is GOD alone who makes the man who is dead in trespasses and sins made us alive together with Christ.

Summarizing the passage above we note:

1. Unregenerate man, man who is spiritually dead in trespass and sin, is given spiritual life through no merit of his own or through any effort on his part.

2. God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, effects this change as an act of His love and mercy toward those He has chosen unto salvation.

3. Man, being regenerated, is united with, or enters into a union, with Jesus Christ.

4. We are raised from spiritual death and are seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That is we have been delivered .. from the power of darkness, and .. translated .. into the kingdom of his dear Son, Jesus Christ [Colossians 1:13, KJV].

5. The regenerate man receives the gift of faith by which the ‘gospel call’ becomes effective.

 

I used to tell my SS class that we are all entitled to be wrong and you are. Wrong that is! The gift is faith! Man exercises that gift in conversion.

 

Paul does not say in the above Scripture that faith is not a gift. Ephesians 2:8 states that faith is a gift! Scripture does not contradict itself. You can believe that or not, just as you choose using your "vaunted Freewill".